Pascal is also watching Perception: 13

OOC > Two items: 1) It is possible that the little gazer was both, set as a guard and in a convenient place for eating. Just a possibility. 2) With collective Perception/Investigation rolls of 2, 8, 8, 11, 13 and Hildi's out of the ordinary but entirely focused on the central bit 18, you are saved by Passive Perception.

Hildi, in the lead position, begins to move forward towards the very interesting island in the middle of the muck, but comes up short when he realizes there is something off about the little intersection. He waves and gesticulates and grabs at Jorin as the big man moves past him, managing to halt his progress, the magical Light on his axe bobbing wildly in the small space.

Drusk and Pascal are waved forward, and slosh up behind the companions, looking intently ahead. Pascal motions, and points at the near left wall, and the far right wall. You can make out one small arrow slit in each!

You hear something mumbled in a very quiet voice and turn, discovering that Ilena has ghosted up next to you out of nowhere! Nobody has any clue what she said though.

Now how do you proceed?

OOC > Working on a map, but you can proceed if you like, or wait. Within the hour.

Oh, yeah, also, now that you are closer, you can see that to your left, the area opens up and there is a raised stone floor, above the muck, and a door set in the wall.

Forgot to mention that! :)

Map still coming...

Finally, the map. At my MIL house, forgot my stylus, so maps are finger-edited/drawn!

Drusk will be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence he came... or maybe not.

The suggestion: Move the Light cantrip to the edge of the NW arrow slit. Although it is too wide for a single slit diffraction pattern, anyone using the arrow slit will have a tough time seeing past the bright light immediately in front of them. Then the party should edge past the SE slit, waving axes or splashing sewage to make any guards inside shoot their bolts prematurely.

(If this is a mechanical trap, then all the visual distractions would be pointless.)

Ilena, noticing that no one can hear her, will try to edge her way toward the door. She gently steps past Jorin and Hildigrim, sticking close to the south east wall. She looks out for trip wires and other potential traps as she makes her way toward the landing.

perception : 15

[ooc: funny, I was trying to think of a way to block one of the arrow slits as well]

I should note that the only person who mentioned being Stealth-y was Ilena, so while you’re not banging stuff or carrying on loud conversations, you’re not walking like silent cranes through the sewage, either. That said, you have not noticed any sounds from the arrow slit areas either. 

[If my roll is still in effect Ilena's a damn shadow right now.]

OoC: .I like the idea of putting the light spell on the far arrow slit and then moving along the South East wall.  Maybe Pascal could get an angle on that slit and shoot some kind of AoE sorry on there?  Drive out anyone who might be inside?

How wide and tall are the arrow slits?

Um. Arrow slit sized? Hold on... okay, they start about a foot above the muck (which is a foot deep) and are three feet tall.  You cannot see any light inside either one. 

Hildigrim is going to light a torch, walk over to the left slit stealthily, and stick the torch inside to look around. Yes, he's being brazen! But, if possible, he'll quickly duck for cover if it looks dangerous. If he needs to drop the torch inside the slit in order to avoid danger, he'll do that.

Stealth: 14

Perception?: 18

OOC > Driving home today, so it’ll be midday before I post. That will give a chance for Pascal to post and Jorin and Drusk to decide what to do. In the meantime...

Hildi turns to his pack to re-light his torch, and Jorin, Drusk and Pascal confer on how best to confound anyone inside the arrow slit rooms. They all look up to see that Ilena has somehow made her way to the raised floor area and is near the door. She stands there, squelching uncomfortably in her boots and oozing sewage onto the stone.

Drusk was worried that this might be an automated arrow trap, and Ilena is looking for traps. Or it might be active shooters, and Hildigrim is going to check that. Drusk is hanging out, ready to help out if needed.

Gives Hildi a slap on the back before he peers into the arrow slit. Guidance for +2 for the post 492 result.

Got it, Ilena found no traps as she stealthed over to the door, past the southern arrow slit. I’ll post Hildi’s torch action when I get home. 

Jorin will draw his second axe (it is normally stowed while they walk using the other as the light source) and, well, be ready in case anyone or anything hostile comes into the junction.

Ilena would be looking over the door to try to get some details about it, but she's preoccupied with disgust at the state of her boots, thinking I just got these, how am I going to get the stench off?

OOC > Finally back home. Here's a better map, post torch waving.

Hildi lights his torch and carefully (Stealth 14+1) pokes it in the south arrow slit. It gutters and flutters, but he gets a good look in there (Perception 18). It appears to be a small guardroom, and about ten feet in is a dozing goblin, short bow by its side.

Pascal will lean over, “So, what’s the plan here?”

He will use his time to remain stealthy.

Drusk waves the others to join Ilena, then heads there himself. If the goblin wakes up, hopefully it will be after everyone is out of the line of fire.

After reaching that door, check it for traps or if it is rigged with alarms. Perception: 21 plus Guidance 3 (1 less for Investigation) (la la la... two consecutive 1s for Guidance, and another 1 for the d20 roll... think happy thoughts... la la la...)